Land of the Lost: Cha-Ka
| next = "The Sleestak God" }} "Cha-Ka" is the first episode of season one of the children's television series Land of the Lost. Directed by series producer Dennis Steinmetz and written by David Gerrold, the episode first aired on NBC on Saturday, September 7th, 1974. Synopsis Rick Marshall and his children Will and Holly have only recently arrived in this strange "Land of the Lost" after falling through a dimensional doorway. Taking in the local wildlife, they observe the various dinosaurs that stalk the terrain. One dinosaur in particular, a "grumpy" Tyrannosaur sees them and gives chase. The Marshalls run and take cover inside some deep underbrush. As they take some time to catch their breath, Rick tries to explain how they must have fallen through a hole in space after their expedition raft took them over a waterfall. As the bellowing sounds of the dinosaur grow closer, the Marshalls continue running. Rick tells Will and Holly to stay put while he goes off to secure shelter. Will and Holly explore the jungle environment and eventually come upon a large, metallic obelisk. Will is intrigued by this Pylon and notes how the surface is so cold and smooth. Holly hears some chittering noises coming from nearby and runs off to investigate. Will follows her and they see three primitive cave people called Paku trying to start a fire. Grumpy the Tyrannosaur lumbers over and the three Paku begin running. The smallest of the three stumbles and falls, breaking his leg. Will and Holly rush to his aide and Will scoops him up. The other two Paku race off in another direction. Fortunately for all concerned, Grumpy gets caught between two trees and everyone is able to escape. Will and Holly run a safe distance and set the Paku child down. Holly offers him water from his canteen and Will tries to communicate with him. They learn that the child's name is Cha-Ka and that he is a Paku. Rick Marshall meets back up with him and looks at Cha-Ka's leg. Determining that it might be fractured, they decide to bring him back to their new cave dwelling at High Bluff. Rick lowers a basket on a pulley down to the ground so they can bring Cha-Ka up to the mouth of the cave. As Will puts the Paku in the basket, Grumpy emerges. Will takes him out of the basket and they hide behind a boulder at the foot of the bluff. Grumpy stomps over and eats the basket. Rick and Holly drive the dinosaur off by poking at him with a long, wooden shaft (which they call the Flyswatter). The pole gets lodged in Grumpy's mouth and he runs off in extreme discomfort. Once he's gone, Will finds an alternate route to Cha-Ka up to the cave. Rick and Holly dress Cha-Ka's injured leg and he prepares a rudimentary splint. Holly regards Cha-Ka as something of a pet and asks her father if they'll be able to keep him. Rick tells her that people don't "own" other people and that it is Cha-Ka's choice if he chooses to stay. They let Cha-Ka get some rest and the Marshalls set down to sleep. Cha-Ka awakens some time later. Intrigued by Rick Marshall's lighter, he takes it and scampers off out of the cave. Rick and the others wake up and silently follow him into the jungle. They catch up to him and Rick takes his lighter back. They theorize that Cha-Ka was probably trying to bring fire to his people. Suddenly, Cha-Ka's Paku brethren, hiding within the branches of a nearby tree begin throwing fruit down at Rick, Will and Holly. They leap down and poke at three humans with sharpened sticks. Cha-Ka sides with the Paku. Grumpy reappears and everyone scatters. Rick, Will and Holly race back to High Bluff. Holly is disappointed that Cha-Ka seemed to have turned against them. The following morning, the Marshalls wake up and find several pieces of large, oversized fruit at the mouth of the cave. They realize that Cha-Ka must have left it for them and that perhaps he truly does want to be friends with them after all. Cast Starring Guest Starring Notes & Trivia * First appearance of all characters. * Future episodes will identify the older Paku as Ta and Sa. * Wally's comment about Grumpy's brain being the size of a walnut is reused in the 2009 in the Land of the Lost. * Cha-Ka mispronounces Will and Holly's names as Wilya and Ari. See also External Links * * * "Cha-Ka" at TV.com * "Cha-Ka" at TV Rage.com ---- Category:1974/Episodes Category:September, 1974/Episodes